IPST hosts Agenda 2020 Cellulosic Nanomaterials Workshop

IPST hosted the Agenda 2020 Cellulosic Nanomaterials team for its workshop March 12. The team, like several other Agenda 2020 groups in their respective areas, is charged with developing a white paper on the state of knowledge, gaps, and research pathways on the subject of isolation, transformation, and applications for nanocellulose. A key factor is to develop enabling technologies to manufacture nanocellulose materials with a cost structure that supports the value generated by use of the materials to meet customer needs.

The March workshop prioritized challenge areas identified by the members, and framed key questions for each. Areas of interest include drying for re-dispersion; characterization and standards; incorporation of nanocellulosic materials into non-aqueous materials; surface functionalization; and environment, safety & health and life cycle considerations.

Team co-lead Paul Durocher from SAPPI gave a brief presentation of the workshop’s outlook to the IPST executive conference the next day (see cover story). Several IPST/Georgia Tech professors are active in this area (see related article on (lignocellulosicscolloquium).

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Dean Benjamin, NewPage, is Agenda 2020 Board sponsor of the team; Ron Brown is president and executive director, Agenda 2020; Paul Durocher of SAPPI co-leads the team.